Alpha EXPERIMENTAL 8.2.0

Posted on July 12th, 2018 03:04 AM EST

Hi Galactic Survivalists,

Welcome to the Experimental Phase for Alpha 8.2! When working on the feature lineup for this version, we of course ironed out more bugs, polished and added a few new features and functions, such as quick-pickup for backpacks, homogeneous group settings, a new Starter Planet and more.

But Alpha 8.2 also aims to address a more profound, technically related topic: loading and unloading structures in a sensitive manner, in order to reduce performance cost!

The "Dynamic Structure Loading" (DSL) will achieve something that may sound as a no-brainer, but actually has a lot of side effects and implications: It will completely unload structures when they are out of render distance. This means, if a base or vessel is farther away than 1200m on a planet (or 3000m in space) the game will unload the structure and save performance. This is similar to when you leave a playfield, all the bases and vessels are unloaded - but now this needs to happen in the same playfield. And dynamically. And in realtime!

DSL affects a lot of game functions, which are now needed to be handled ‘on runtime’ although they are technically unloaded. That’s not only affecting plants growing, fuel in bases is used up, constructors and furnaces crafting, solar power charging, but also elements like spawning on a medbay that is in a base outside DSL range (and thus unloaded).

We spent an extra week to fix those major game issues coming with DSL before starting the EXP phase, but we would like you to not only have a close look if performance has improved on your side, but also take into account the aforementioned info when hunting and reporting bugs.

On a different note: With 8.2, we added the first iteration of a new starter planet. On the Arid-Starter world you will still find water and green dots of live between all the sand and stones, but the lack of O2 and temperatures might add an additional challenge.

Dynamic Structure Loading (DSL):- First implementation of loading only the the structures around players (Planet < 1200m, Orbit < 3000m)We introduced a new technique - so-called "dynamic structure loading" (DSL) - to load only structures that are around a player. Before, we loaded all structures on a planet which slowed down performance and increased load times. The current implementation will unload the structures immediately when they are not near the player any more (more than 1200m away). Later we will introduce a timeout of about 2 minutes - the immediate unload is very good for testing.

New Desert Planet:- Added new desert planet (former: Desert2, now: Desert)We changed the PlanetType of the old Desert Planet into Arid Planet. Then new Desert Planet is a real Tatooine-style desert planet

Added Homogeneous Group Settings to Control Panel:- Able to set Turret Attack Groups and Light Settings from the "Group" Heading- Must be only a single type of device (eg: only Turret Blocks in Group)

Tweaked Default Random Scenario to be better compatible with MP:- Set all POIs to regenerate- Set "LandClaimZone: Device" so that buried crashed ships can be dug out and still regenerate- Added resources to regeneration via resource asteroids

New Terrain:- Added new terrain: currently same size as old terrain but it should be much faster and efficient

Gameplay:- Extended structure limit from 255 to 65535 per playfield- Use SHIFT+F to instant-pickup backpack and drop container- Added "Instant" as gameoption speed for Blueprint crafting / Repair-2-Template- When salvaging a block doesn't return anything this is indicated by a red tool icon- Removed MaxCount in Config.ecf for Capacitor (Solar) [internal: SolarGenerator] > Battery Capacity can now be increased by placing more Capacitors- Display Maximum Fuel/Battery capacities in Statistics- Local Coop games now use the SinglePlayer game options dataset- Added "show bounds" checkbox to repair bay that will show the bounds of the ship to repair. This will switch off after 10 seconds- Added screen-message for Repair-2-Template Intake when adding a second stack which is then larger than requirement- Changed "Current Durability" display to also include current max durability, e.g. 450/500- Added Coordinates and Distance in 3d Planetary Map when circle marker is placed- Reduced shaking of Multitool, Survivaltool, DrillT2 (not camera shake but shaking of tool itself)- Added O2 tank to Essential Category- Increased O2 value of small O2 bottles (from 50 to 75) and large O2 bottles (from 200 to 250)- Removed light from Survival Tool- Deny manual usage of weapons and turrets of docked vessels- Moved LizardMule to Arid planets

Visuals:- Updated model and textures for Ion Cannon- Updated model and textures for LizardMule NPC- Improved particle effect of slime ranged attack (AlienBug03 + AlienBug04)- Tweaked interior glass of Cockpit 4 (SV/HV): more transparent - similar to the other cockpits- Tweaked “Highest” setting in Shadow Quality setting (it is now similar to old Medium setting)- WaterGenerator + Autominer are now grey instead of blue (to be consistent with other terrain placeables)- EggPlant has better harvested model- Better particle effects for Survival Tool

UI Update:- Added option to switch between metric and imperial measurement systems- Updated preview icons for several blocks (devices, components, ammo, etc)- Updated Block info: added first batch of new descriptions for items and devices with Infos on how to use them and in which context + adjusted some descriptions that were outdated or not fitting anymore- Info panel window: Consistent placement of units: unit always be behind value- Added "CRAFTING" heading to Info Window- Added Output Count and Craft Time to "CRAFTING" header in tooltip/info window- Changed Power/Workload "Off" to "None" in Control Panel main page under "Power"- All Pentaxid based materials (Pentaxid, raw and refined) are now colored in Magenta to make it easier to distinguish from Promethium (blue) and to be consistent with Warp Tank color- Better UI Font Rendering- Improved "Status Effect" display in Block Info- GrowthTime is now displayed correctly with localized "minutes" behind number

PDA Update:- Internal change of loca references to prevent currently active tasks to get broken when updates happens- For Singleplayer you can find the Story Missions now in the "STORY" tab in the PDA (F1)- Fixed some issues with Robinson Protocol COOP triggers- PDA Random Default: Made clear that in COOP/MP it is not possible to set a core in a regenerated structure- Added Chinese (simplified) for Robinson Protocol and other Missions- Updated FR translation

Other Changes:- Console command : add the sub command "spawn" to the "depleteresource" command- Enhanced console cmd "gameoptions" to allow to set a parameter value- Console command 'ents' does now not list any structure proxy entities any more (only if you use 'ents -all').- Added: Console command "gameoptions" to list all current values- Config.ecf: Removed "Range", "Damage", "AmmoCapacity", "AmmoType", "ReloadDelay", "ROF" from device because it will now be read from weapon itself- Changed: Random placing of POIs and resources now excludes 200 (instead of 100) meters around the pole areas- When hovering with a drill/survival drill, we are now hiding the name of the deco item if Localization does not exist (this avoids to be distracted by strange names of deco items)- Added AlienBug04 to spawn menu- Better explanation for Special parameters (eg AllowBlueprintSV etc) in ExamplePlanet- Replaced POIDistance with SpawnPOIAvoidDistance in all playfield.yamls

Bug Fixes:- Fixed: Dead drones fall through terrain in some cases (especially MP)- Fixed: Parasaur NPC sliding over terrain when trying to run away- Fixed: Exception when you change to any option in the repair bay console- Fixed: NPCs firing through wall (proper fix)- Fixed: Tent removes terrain- Fixed: Flickering on grass with "Low" SSAO setting- Fixed: Mobile constructor starts crafting even if turned off- Fixed: Players seated on a bike are shown as 'PlayerBike' in MP- Fixed: Exploit when two players try to pickup the same block at the same time- Fixed: Plants did not always continue to grow while a playfield was unloaded- Fixed: Asteroid resource: Area limit of the asteroid resource did not match the new big planet size- Fixed: Game Start pages broken for Akua-Omicron and other scenarios- Fixed: Exception when clicking between STATISTICS page and CONTROL Panel in a vessel- Fixed: Exception when quitting with alt-f4 with open statistic screen- Fixed: Display of correct planet stats with ad hoc playfield generation- Fixed: Light Suit not protecting from RAD - round random radiation to nearest 1/10th- Fixed: Techtree: Range info is missing from Weapons- Fixed: Sorting Error with Tooltip and Tech Tree Window- Fixed: Motion sensor breaks after placing & picking a bike up in the sensor area- Fixed: Moving far away from a vessel that is using R2T & returning to it the R2T is not maintained whilst away.- Fixed: Enter key not working in password dialog when connecting to a protected server- Fixed: Missing description text for starter playfield in Default Random when multiple starters available- Fixed: Alien Palm tree (Oranges) explodes when being harvested- Fixed: Billboard appears too early for Cactus plant- Fixed: Shared markers are visible on playfields they do not belong to (MP)- Fixed: Resources & Time list in statistic window is not scrollable with mouse wheel- Fixed: Problem that no NPC spawned in Sand biome on arid planets- Fixed: When opening PDA, Log texts didn't update if not a chapter (but a task) was selected previously- Fixed: Several problems with colliders being at wrong position for NPCs- Fixed: Possible network disconnect exploit for mod API: item add/remove, credits, full inventory update- Fixed: Epic Pulse Rifle was not colored correctly (grey instead of red)- Fixed: Constructors still using old "On/Off" Buttons- Fixed: Possible network disconnect exploit for mod API: item exchange- Fixed: POI spawning on Temperate planet > now EpsilonAuxT1 and EpsilonDefence POI will spawn close to Bunker- Fixed: UI Highlight showing incorrectly/not showing when item is being dragged during enable/disable event- Fixed: Some materials/textures on deco plants (were over bright)- Fixed: Mechanoid rotation + movement speed- Fixed: PDA exception when loading old savegame- Fixed: Hover Info 'Effective Against' is shown as KEY not as LOCA- Fixed: AI Vessel : patrol in Long range management not updating next destination- Fixed: missing description and additional info for Shadows of Starlight and Default Akua-Omicron scenarios.

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Update: July 16, 2018 - Build 1773

Changes:- Added “Apply to Group” button for homogeneous group settings- Crafting: 1 Vegetable now gives 2 PlantProtein- Added new climate type of 'Arid'. Remove 'halo' and 'haloColor' from pre-vis planets.- Made some visual tweaks to the console (namely font size decreases).- More detailed colliders on IonCannons (enemy turrets)- Added Spotlights into own control panel group so that on Autogroup Light/Spotlights are separated and Lights are in homogeneous group- Debug weapons are now blue to better distinguish them from the epic weapons- Console cmd "aimanager" : sub command "triggerdronewave" will now force the drone triggering even when there is no player around the base- DSL: added a delay of 30 seconds until a structure that is too far away is despawned (needs to be tested pretty good)- Console command 'ents' now also shows the entity type- The white warp effect now lasts 5 seconds longer to hide the longer planet loading times- Limiting number of blueprint parts to 32 to improve network traffic- Console command 'stats' now shows the land claim mode

Bug Fixes:- Fixed: Some plants are becoming un-collectible when taking a save game made in 1743 or before into 8.2.- Fixed: Distant fog is missing on moons.- Fixed: DSL: Docked vessels become undocked from a BA or CV after moving far away & returning to them- Fixed: No Resource Asteroids spawning in Space- Fixed: Repair Station getting stuck while in R2T Mode when no template is available- Fixed: Chunks of terrain missing- Fixed: DSL: fix for structures getting decayed without reason- Fixed: Server shutdown keeps processes open- Fixed: Random COQ after drone attacks- Fixed: DSL: Neutral mapmarker not working anymore for structures beyond 1200m- Fixed: Expectation when using cmd "deco r"- Fixed: Black square appears for split-second when opening sector map.- Fixed: Exploit: Endless production of Energy bars- Fixed: Turret targeting settings are not saved when creating a blueprint- Fixed: Turret Targeting: Ignore Structures and their sub-devices IF structure is fully deactivated (Main Power OFF)- Fixed: Preview pic for Arid playfield starting spawn is showing as a space playfield- Fixed: Vessels not able to warp in some use cases- Fixed: [MP] After RT2 is performed any devices that are put back onto the vessel are not put back into the group they were in.- Fixed: Exception if Orbit has Instance Data- Fixed: HUD text not taking measurement system setting into account- Fixed: AtmosphereFogRange in +ExamplePlanet dynamic playfield- Fixed: R2T: Repair Blocks does not allow manual repair start & broken info for ingots- Fixed: Turrets do not attack Ion Cannons in some use cases- Fixed: NPCs stay in a structure when it regenerates- Fixed: Plants dying when returning to a base (MP)- Fixed: Drone attacking base when player is away- Fixed: Possible 'end of stream exception' fix